motivation and english language

Education in Medicine Journal (ISSN 2180-1932) www.eduimed.com | e19

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Dr Mona Faisal Al-Qahtani, Department of Health Information Management

and Technology, University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Email: [email protected]

Medical Education Department, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. All rights reserved.

ABSTRACT

Background: A considerable amount of research has been done to explore

the key factors that affect learning a second language. Among these factors

are students' learning strategies, motivation, attitude, learning environment,

and the age at which they are exposed to a second language. Such issues

have not been explored extensively in Saudi Arabia, even though English is

used as the medium of teaching and learning for medical studies.

Objectives: First, to explore the learning strategies used to study English as

a second language. Second, to identify students' motivations for studying

English. Third, to assess students' perceptions toward their learning

environment. Fourth, to investigate students' attitude towards the speakers

of English. Fifth, to explore any possible relationships among English

language proficiency grades of students and the following: demographic

variables, grades for their general medical courses, learning strategies,

motivational variables, attitudes, and environmental variables. It is also the

aim of this study to explore the relationships between English language

learning strategies and motivational variables. Methods: A cross-sectional

descriptive study was conducted in May, 2008. The Attitudinal Measure of

Learners of English as a Second Language (AMLESL) questionnaire was

used to explore the learning strategies used by students to study English as a

second language, their motivation to study English, their attitude toward

English speaking people, and perceptions toward the environment where the

learning is taking place. Results: A total of 110 out of 120 questionnaires

were completed by Applied Medical Science undergraduates, yielding a

response rate of 92%. Students utilize all types of learning strategies.

Students were motivated 'integratively' and 'instrumentally'. There were

significant correlations between the achievement in English and

performance in general medical courses, learning strategies, motivation,

age, and the formal level at which the student started to learn English.

Conclusion: The study showed that students utilize all types of language

learning strategies. However, cognitive strategies were the most frequently

utilized. Students considered their learning environment as more positive

than negative. Students were happy with their teacher, and with their

English courses. Students held a positive attitude toward English speaking

people. Achievement in English was associated positively with performance

in the general medical courses, motivation, and social learning strategies.

Relationship between English Language, Learning Strategies, Attitudes, Motivation,

and Students Academic Achievement

Mona Faisal Al-Qahtani

Department of Health Information Management and Technology, University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE Volume 5 Issue 3 2013

DOI: 10.5959/eimj.v5i3.124 www.eduimed.com

ARTICLE INFO

Received : 24/10/2012

Accepted : 30/01/2013

Published : 01/09/2013

KEYWORD

Learning strategies

Motivation

Attitude

English language

Academic achievement


Introduction

Since the early 1970s, a considerable amount of

research has been done to explore the key factors

that enhance or hinder learning a second

language. Among these factors are learning

strategies used to study a second language,

students' motivation to study a second language,

their attitudes toward learning the language, the

perception of their language learning

environment, and the age at which they are first

exposed to the study of a second language.

O'Malley and Chamot [1] identified the

strategies that successful language learners

employed to facilitate their learning of the

second language by classifying them into three

main types: metacognitive, cognitive, and social

strategies. Previous studies hypothesized that if

language learners are taught how to use these

different language strategies, they probably

would become more effective and independent

learners [2].

Gardner [3] categorized levels of motivation for

studying the language into 'integrative' and

'instrumental' orientations. 'Integrative'

orientation emphasizes that learners' motivation

to study the second language stems from a

positive disposition to members of the target

language and a desire to interact with them. On

the other hand, 'instrumental' orientation

emphasizes that motivation stems from a belief

that learning a second language can be helpful in

getting a job or in furthering one's education [4,

5]. Gardner and his colleagues hypothesized that

'integrative' motivation might have more

influence on the long-term motivation necessary

for most of the tasks in second language learning

[4-6].

Educational research has shown that students'

attitude toward a second language course [7],

their language teacher [3], or about a particular

foreign nation in which the second language is

addressed [3] has an effect on their

acquisition/achievement in that language.

Gardner [3] argued that if learners' perception of

speakers of the language being studied is

positive, their motivation will be high, which

will in turn influence their learning of that

language. In support of Gardner's [3] claim, Ho

[8] examined the association between the

students' willingness to engage in culture studies

and their motivation and attitude towards

learning English. He found strong associations

between willingness, motivation, and attitude.

Students who enjoyed studying about English-

speaking countries tended to have a more

positive attitude, and a higher motivation to

study the English language. In contradiction to

Gardner's argument, Svansen [9] found a

negative relationship between English

proficiency and attitude towards the people of

target language. He concluded that the more

learners know a language, the more they are able

to criticize its culture.

It has been highlighted in the literature that the

learner's age has an effect on second language

acquisition. According to Krashen [10, p. 43]

"Acquirers who begin natural exposure to second

languages during childhood generally achieve

higher second language proficiency than those

beginning as adults". In support of this claim,

Newport [11] explored the influence of age on

acquisition. He found a relationship between the

age of acquisition and language performance. On

the other hand, Slavoff and Johnson [12]

explored the influence of age on the pace of

acquisition of English as a second language of

immigrant children, aged 7-9 and 10-12 in the

USA. They found no significant differences

between the performance of the two groups.

Their results did not support Krashen's [10]

claims. In the context of medical education, the

literature claims that mastering the complex

professional and technical language of medical

education is the biggest challenge for medical

students [13]. This challenge becomes even

bigger if medical students come from a country

that has little contact with the English language

[13]. English is the medium of teaching and

learning instruction in many medical schools

around the world. Medical students' lack of

English language skills might be considered a

major obstacle to their academic success [14].

Studies on the above issue have verified the

positive and significant association between

students' medical performance and their English

language proficiency [13, 15-17].


In Saudi Arabia, English is used as a medium of

instruction in medical schools. However, to the

best of the authors knowledge, no formal studies

have been conducted to explore the above issues

at the College of Applied Medical Sciences at

the University of Dammam in Saudi Arabia.

The objectives of this study are five -fold. First,

to explore the learning strategies used by

students to study English as a second language.

The second is to identify students' motivations

for studying English Third, to assess students'

perceptions toward the environment where the

learning of English is taking place. The fourth is

to investigate students' attitude towards the

speakers of English. Fifth, to explore any

possible relationships among learning strategies,

attitudes, motivation, perception of the English

learning environment, English language

proficiency grades of students, and their grades

for their general medical courses.

Material and Methods

Study setting

The study was conducted in the College of

Applied Medical Sciences (CAMS) - Female

section, University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

The CAMS Female section consists of the

following seven departments: Department of

Medical Laboratory Technology, Respiratory

Care, Health Information Management and

Technology, Physical Therapy, Radiology,

Cardiac Technology, and Clinical Nutrition. The

academic programs for all mentioned

departments cover four years plus one

internship year in Saudi Arabia. During the first

year, all students study similar compulsory

courses, namely: General and Scientific English

(6-credit hours), English Study Skills (2- credit

hours), two Biological courses (one course has 2

and the other one 4 credit hours), Chemistry (4-

credit hours), and Physics (4-credit hours). In

addition, three general courses are offered,

namely: Learning Skills, Islamic Culture, and

Islamic Ethics (2-credit hours each). English

language is the medium of teaching and learning

in this college.

Study design

A cross-sectional descriptive study in May,

2008.

Target population and sample size

The target population was all first year students

(n=120) at the college of Applied Medical

Sciences - Female section.

Data was collected through a self-administered

anonymous questionnaire. The researcher of this

study presented the goals of the study to the

students at the end of one of their lectures.

Verbal consent was obtained prior to the

distribution of the questionnaires, stressing the

students' right to non- participation.

Approximately 20 minutes was required to

complete the questionnaires.

Instruments

The Attitudinal Measure of Learners of English

as a Second Language (AMLESL) questionnaire

which was developed by Al-Qahtani [18] was

employed to explore learning strategies students

use to study English as a second language,

motivation to study English, attitude toward the

English speaking peoples, and perceptions

toward the environment where the learning is

taking place, in terms of perceptions towards

teachers and English language courses. The

questionnaire consisted of two parts. The first

part covering the strategies used to study English

as a second language, consisted of 23 statements

based on the definition of O'Malley and Chamot

[1] language learning strategies, and classified

into three groups:

(1) Metacognitive strategies, which focus on

planning for learning, monitoring of

comprehension or production, and self-

evaluation of learning. Examples of such

strategies are: advance organization, direct

attention, selective attention, self- management,

self- monitoring, and self -evaluation.

(2) Cognitive strategies, which are more directly

related to students' learning tasks and involve


direct manipulation or transformation of

information. They focus on comprehension,

acquisition, and retention. Examples of such

strategies are: resourcing, translation, note-

taking, elaboration, and inferring.

(3) Social strategies, which focus on interaction

with another learner. Examples of such strategies

are: questions for clarification and co-operation.

The second part contained 28 statements in five

groups: motivation toward studying English as a

second language, 'instrumental' orientation,

'integrative' orientation, perception toward the

learning environment where English Language

learning is taking place, and attitude toward

English speaking people (integrativeness). Each

statement was followed by a five- option level of

agreement Likert scale ranging from strongly

agree (coded as 4), agree (coded as 3), uncertain

(coded as 2), disagree (coded as 1), and strongly

disagree (coded as 0). The scoring was reversed

for negative statements. In addition, there were

five demographic variables: age, age at which

student was first exposed to the English

language, school level at which the student

started studying English formally, overall grade

average in the student's English courses (English

language proficiency grade), and overall grade

average in the student's general courses (general

medical courses grade).

Statistical Analysis

A non-parametric statistical technique was

performed using the Statistical Package for

Social Sciences (SPSS, IBM, Chicago, Illinois,

USA) version 16. Cronbach alpha coefficient

was used to assess the internal consistency of the

questionnaire. Spearman's rho coefficient was

calculated to assess the relationship between: a)

English language proficiency grade and

demographic variables, b) English language

proficiency grade and grades of the general

medical courses c) English language proficiency

grade and English learning strategies, d) English

language proficiency grade and motivational,

attitudinal and environmental variables, and e)

English language learning strategies and

motivational variables.

Results

A total of 110 out of 120 questionnaires were

completed, yielding a response rate of 92%. All

respondents were female students. Their mean

age was 18.64.6 years. Sixty percent of the

students were exposed to the English language

after the age of ten. Almost 70% of them had

started their formal learning of English as a

second language at the intermediate level. More

than half (56%) of the students achieved grade

'A' while 34% of them obtained grade 'B' in their

English language courses. About 40% of the

students had a grade 'A' in their general medical

courses, while 44% of them achieved level 'B' in

their general medical courses.

Reliability analysis

The Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients of

scales of AMLESL survey were as follows:

metacognitive strategies (= .775), cognitive

strategies (= .648), social strategies (=.719),

motivation to study (= .444), perceptions of the

learning environment where English learning is

taking place (= .708), 'instrumental' orientation

(= .339), 'integrative' orientation (= .549), and

the overall questionnaire (.= .834). The

Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients of overall

scales, metacognitive strategies, social strategies,

and perceptions of the learning environment

were high to very high. Those of cognitive

strategies, 'integrative' orientation, attitude

toward English speaking people

('integrativeness'), and the motivation to study

English as a second language were average to

high. For 'instrumental' orientation, the

Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient was

present but low.

Students' English language learning strategies

Table 1 revealed that students reported direct

attention, self-monitoring, translation,

elaboration, and inferring as the most frequent

strategies used (median scores were 3.5; IQR

ranged between 2-4 and 3-4). While advance

organization, selective attention, and resourcing

were the strategies used less frequently (median


scores ranged from 1 to 2 and IQR were .92-2.3,

0-3, and 1-3 respectively).

The table also revealed that students utilize meta-

cognitive, cognitive, and social strategies

(median scores were >2.5; IQR ranged between

2.1-2.9 and 2-4), (except advance organization,

selective attention, and resourcing). However,

the extent of utilization differed. Cognitive

strategies were utilized more frequently than

meta-cognitive and social strategies.

Students' motivation to study English

Table 1 revealed that students were more

positive than negative in their motivation to

study English as a second language (median

=2.625 and IQR was 2.25-3.00). Furthermore,

'integrative' and 'instrumental' motivation were

scored similarly (median scores = 3.75 and IQR

were 3-4 and 3.25-4 respectively).

Students' perception of their learning

environment

Table 1 revealed that students were largely

positive in their perception of their learning

environment (median=3.428; IQR was 2.71-

3.71). It also showed that students were quite

satisfied with their teacher and English courses

(median scores were >3.2; IQR were 2.50-3.75

and 2.66-3.66 respectively).

Students' attitude towards speakers of English

Table 1 showed that students' attitude toward

people who spoke English was slightly more

positive than negative (median = 2.8; IQR was

2.20-3.20).

Relationship between the Grade in English

Language Proficiency and demographic

variables

Table 2 revealed negative significant correlations

between English language performance and "age

at which the students were first exposed to the

study of English language" (r = -0.373, p <

0.001) and the "formal level of study when

students began to learn the English language" (r

= -0.368, p < 0.001).


Language Proficiency and Grades in General

Medical Courses

Table 2 indicates a positive significant

association between the performance in English

language and that in the general medical courses

(r = 0.552, p < 0.001).

Association between the Grade in English

Language Proficiency and English Learning

strategies

Table 2 indicates only one out of possible three

significant correlations between the grade in

English language proficiency and strategies for

learning English as a second language. This

significant correlation was evident between the

grade in English language proficiency and social

strategies for learning English as a second

language (r = 0.201, p = 0.036).


Language Proficiency and Motivational,

Attitudinal and Environmental Variables

Table 2 shows significant positive associations

between the grade in English language

proficiency and the motivation to study English

(r = 0.237, p = 0.013). Furthermore, table 2

shows a significant positive association between

the grade in English language proficiency and

'integrative' motivation (r = 0.218, p = 0.022).

There were no significant correlations between

the grade in English language proficiency and

both the perception of the environment where the

learning of English as a second language takes

place, and attitude toward speakers of English

('integrativeness').

Association between English Language

Learning Strategies and Motivational Variables

Table 3 revealed that all three types of English

learning strategies were significantly and

positively associated with 'integrative' motivation

while 'instrumental' motivation was significantly


and positively associated with cognitive and

social strategies only.

Discussion

The literature emphasizes the importance of

exploring the key factors that have an impact on

students' performance in English. This study

aimed at exploring the learning strategies used to

study English as a second language, motivational

and attitudinal patterns, and the environmental

factors with possible associations with the grade

or achievement in English language proficiency.

The findings revealed that the Attitudinal

Measure of Learners of English as A Second

Language (AMLESL) questionnaire was a

reliable instrument for investigating the learning

strategies used by students to study English as a

second language, the motivational and attitudinal

patterns and the English language learning

environment.

In general, the findings revealed that students

utilize meta-cognitive, cognitive, and social

language learning strategies, though the degree

of utilization varies. The extensive use of direct

attention, self-monitoring, translation,

elaboration, and inference strategies might be

partly explained by the fact that first year

students exposed extensively to a new medium

of language instruction/ teaching and learning,

have a heavy workload of new material to study

and complex medical terminology to be

translated, analyzed and understood. These

strategies involve the active manipulation of the

learning materials [19]. The result on the self-

monitoring strategy is in harmony with Skehan's

view [20] which indicates that a self-monitoring

strategy is utilized more by those who have

greater exposure to the new language. First year

students in this study were exposed intensively to

the English language, for they were enrolled in a

total of seven out of eight subjects that use

English language as a medium of instruction,

teaching and learning.

Analysis of cognitive strategies revealed that to

manipulate the information, students tended to

use inference a great deal, followed by

elaboration and translation. This finding might

reflect the load in the medical curriculum, which

requires the processing of an extensive amount

of information for learning, information which

needs to be analyzed, deductions made,

elaborated on, and integrated with other new

knowledge.

Regarding students' motivation, the results

revealed that students' motivation to study

English as a second language was positive. The

results also revealed that students use both

integrative and instrumental motivation. One

possible explanation for this result is that

students were concerned about the importance of

the role of English language in their academic

success. Its place as a college prerequisite

spurred them on to learn and master the language

not only for a short term goal to accomplish their

undergraduate studies, but also as a means of

pursuing their life long learning.

Analysis of environmental variables suggest that

the English learning environment was perceived

as satisfactory by first year students at CAMS

College in the University of Dammam. Students

felt much happier with their teacher and with

their English courses. This may indicate their

satisfaction with their English teachers for their

support and encouragement to practice the

English language, while fully aware of the

varying levels of students' comprehension, and

providing them with constructive feedback. It

might also be that students consider the English

course as a useful, valuable, and interesting

subject to be studied.

With regard to students' attitude toward speakers

of English, the results revealed that students'

attitudes were slightly more positive than

negative. This result could be traced back to the

positive image and admiration the society has for

English speakers based on the belief that people

who speak English are well educated, and

competent.

The negative and significant correlations found


proficiency and the 'age at which students were

first exposed to the study of the English

language' and the 'formal level of study when


students started learning English language',

underline the importance of introducing the

learning of English language at an early stage of

formal education, perhaps in the first year of the

elementary school along with instruction on the

mother-tongue. It seems that students who were

exposed to English at an early age or who started

to learn English at an early formal level of study

tended to have a higher level of proficiency in

English.

The positive significant correlation between the

grade in English language proficiency and grades

in the general medical courses indicates the

important influence of English on students'

performance. The results suggest that students

who are good in English were more likely to

achieve better results in their courses. This result

is in accord with studies of Alfayez et al., [21],

Hayes and Farnill [22], and Hassan et al., [16]. It

is also in agreement with the study by Alnasir

and Jaradat [17] which found a significant linear

relationship between students' achievement in

the university admission test, which includes a

test of the students English language skills, and

the students' performance in the various

disciplines in the first year of their medical

study at the Arabian Gulf University. It is also in

line with the finding of the Al-Rukban et al., [23]

study which indicated that admission tools such

as the achievement test which includes a test of

English language skills, correlated significantly

with students' medical performance in the

undergraduate medical program.

The significant association found between the

grade in English language proficiency and social

learning strategies for English as a second

language supports the claim by O'Malley and

Chamot [1] that there was a relationship between

students' effectiveness and the use of different

classes of learning strategies. The result in this

study revealed that a relatively higher degree of

social strategy is associated with a higher level

of English achievement. This finding contradicts

Khalil's [2] results that showed that the higher

the English proficiency, the greater the variety of

the strategies used. The absence of any

significant association between English

achievement and the metacognitive and cognitive

strategies might indicate that English

achievement was not greatly influenced by these

two types of learning strategies. This might

imply that some factors other than these types of

language learning strategies were at play in

students' English achievement.

The significant and positive association found


proficiency and the motivation to study English,

indicate that students with higher levels of

motivation tend to do better on the English test

than students with lower score on motivation

subscale. This finding supports both Gardner's

claim [3] and Bernaus and Gardner's results [24]

that motivation for language learning has an

effect on the proficiency in learning that

language. However, this result contradicts the

findings of both Lims [25] and Wei's [26]

studies that showed no correlation between

English language proficiency grade and

motivation. The significant and positive

association found between the grade in English

language proficiency and 'integrative' motivation

supports the finding of Ghanea et al., [27]. It is

also in accord with Man-Fats [28] study that

showed a significant association between

'integrative' motivation and language proficiency

among English language learners in Hong Kong.

However, the absence of any significant

relationship in this study, between language

proficiency and 'instrumental' motivation

contradicts the finding of Ghanea et al., [27].

The significant and positive association found

between the English language learning strategies

and motivational variables indicate that students

with higher levels of motivation tend to use all

types (i.e. meta-cognitive, cognitive, and social)

of English learning strategies more frequently

than students with lower score on motivation

subscale. A comparison between 'integrative' and

'instrumental' motivation in relation to their

association with English learning strategies

revealed that 'integrative' motivation had higher

levels of associations with English learning

strategies than 'instrumental' motivation.


Conclusion

This study aimed at exploring the learning

strategies used in studying English as a second

language, the motivational and attitudinal

patterns and the students' perception toward their

learning environment where English learning

takes place. It also aimed at exploring possible

associations between English language

proficiency grade/achievement and demographic

variables, learning strategies, motivational,

attitudinal, and environmental variables.

Overall, the results indicated that students utilize

the metacognitive, cognitive, and social language

learning strategies, though the degree of

utilization varies. Cognitive strategies are more

widely used than other types.

The analysis also suggests that students have a

positive motivation to study English as a second

language. They use both' integrative' and

'instrumental' motivation.. In addition, students

perceived their learning environment as more

positive than negative. Students were pleased

with their teacher and with their English courses.

They also had a positive attitude toward English

speaking people.

Achievement in English was associated

positively and significantly with social learning

strategies, motivation to study English,

'integrative' motivation, and performance in the

general medical courses. On the other hand, the

results showed that achievement in English was

associated negatively and significantly both with

the age at which the student was first exposed to

the language and the level at which student

started to learn English formally.

Recommendations

The following recommendations, based on the

above conclusions, are made for several groups

within the higher education industry.

Decision makers at the Ministry of Education

should introduce the learning of English in the

very early years of elementary school.

Faculty/teachers of English language should

place more emphasis on engaging students in the

task of language learning, provide more

opportunities for practical sessions during which

students communicate in English, and create a

virtual/spiritual/imaginary environment in which

students can engage in all aspects of the English

language.

Those in authority in the English Language

Department should encourage students to utilize

social strategies more, since it correlated more

highly with the proficiency grade/achievement

than the other types.

Students should attend workshops on how to

adopt a diversity of language learning strategies.

Such workshops might place emphasis on

training students to use a combination of meta-

cognitive, cognitive, and social learning

strategies.

It is anticipated that the use of the information

acquired in this study will improve the English

language learning environment in the College of

Applied Medical Sciences, and provide a

constructive influence on students' learning in

Saudi Arabia.

Limitations

This study used a questionnaire as the main tool

for data collection. For future studies, it is

recommended that qualitative research methods

such as interviews be used, to find out the

language learning strategies used by students in

their study of English. In addition, this study was

limited to only one college in Saudi Arabia,

which makes any generalization inappropriate.

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Table 1: Median and inter-quartile range (IQR) for strategies for learning English, motivation to study,

integrative orientation, instrumental orientation, perceptions toward learning environment, and attitude

towards the speakers of English.

Strategies for learning English Median (IQR)

Meta-cognitive Strategies 2.541 (2.062 - 2.916)

Advance organizer 1.333 (.916 - 2.333)

Direct attention 3.500 (2.000 - 4.000)

Selective attention 1.000 (0.000 - 3.000)

Self-management 2.875 (2.250 - 3.250)

Self-monitor 3.500 (3.000 - 4.000)

Self-evaluation 3.000 (3.000 - 4.000)

Cognitive Strategies 3.125 (2.625 - 3.500)

Resourcing 2.000 (1.000 - 3.000)

Translation 3.500 (2.000 - 4.000)

Note-taking 3.333 (2.666 - 4.000)

Elaboration 3.500 (3.000 - 4.000)

Inferring 4.000 (3.000 - 4.000)

Social strategies 2.625 (1.750 - 3.312)

Question for clarification 3.000 (2.000 - 3.500)

Cooperation 2.500 (1.500 - 3.500)

Motivation to Study 2.625 (2.250 - 3.000)

Instrumental Orientation 3.750 (3.250 - 4.000)

Integrative Orientation 3.750 (3.000 - 4.000)

Perception toward Learning Environment 3.428 (2.714 - 3.714)

Perception toward courses 3.333 (2.666 - 3.666)

Perception toward teachers 3.250 (2.500 - 3.750)

Integrativeness (attitude towards the speakers of English) 2.800 (2.200 - 3.200)


Table 2: Correlation Between English language grade, general medical courses grade, age, formal level of

study, learning strategies, motivational, attitudinal and environmental variables.

English language Grade

r (p-value)

0.552 (

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